vioscale
Comparison

Hugo vs Read the Docs

No clear leader: Read the Docs (65.0) and Hugo (60.7) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Hugo full profile →Read the Docs full profile →
Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
Hugo61
Read the Docs65
Score
Vioscale score
Hugo61 / 100low · 49%
Read the Docs65 / 100medium · 51%
Pricing
Free tier
Hugo✓
Read the Docs✓
Model
Hugoopen_source
Read the Docscommercial
Price level
Hugofree
Read the Docsmid
Transparent
Hugo✓
Read the Docs✓
Integrations
Count
Hugo6
Read the Docs7
Security
Disclosure policy
Hugo✓
Read the Docs✓
Scorecard
Hugo5.6
Read the Docs7.5
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Status page
Hugo–
Read the Docs✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Hugo210
Read the Docs–
Github stars
Hugo89,554
Read the Docs8,377
Activity
Commits last 30d
Hugo39
Read the Docs44
Release
Cadence days
Hugo6
Read the Docs6
History
Hugo20 items
Read the Docs20 items
License
Spdx
HugoApache-2.0
Read the DocsMIT
Language
Primary
HugoGo
Read the DocsPython
Market
Availability

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for documentation tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Core
Tool kind
HugoStatic-site generator
Read the DocsHosted build service
Engine / language
HugoGo
Read the DocsSphinx, MkDocs, Docusaurus, and others
Authoring
Authoring format
HugoMarkdown
Read the Docs-
API docs
API reference from OpenAPI / code
Hugo✓
Read the Docs-
Content
Multi-version docs
Hugo✓
Read the Docs✓
Internationalisation
Hugo✓
Read the Docs-
Discovery
Search
Hugo-
Read the DocsBuilt-in
Design
Theming / custom design
Hugo✓
Read the Docs-
Workflow
Edit-in-Git / WYSIWYG round-trip
Hugo✓
Read the Docs✓
Deployment
Self-hostable
Hugo✓
Read the Docs-
Official managed host
Hugo✗
Read the Docs✓
Insight
Built-in usage analytics
Hugo-
Read the Docs✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Hugo

An open-source static site generator that renders content to HTML files using templates, supporting multiple content formats, multilingual projects, and comprehensive asset pipelines for CSS, JavaScript, and images.

Independently observed

Read the Docs

A managed documentation platform that connects to Git repositories to automatically build, preview, and host documentation. Handles infrastructure for builds, search, versioning, and authentication so teams can focus on writing documentation.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Hugo

Open sourceFree tier

Free and open source under Apache 2.0 License

as of verify ↗

Read the Docs

from $50/moSubscriptionFree tier30-day trial

From $50/month. Free tier for open source. 30-day trial available. Annual billing and purchase orders supported.

  • CommunityFree
    • Clone public repositories
    • Public documentation
    • Ads-supported hosting
    • Automatic builds
    • Versioning
    • +3 more
  • Basic$50/month
    • 2 concurrent builds
    • Shared domain
    • SSO with GitHub and GitLab
    • 50 redirects
    • Pageview analytics (30 days)
    • +10 more
  • Advanced$150/month
    • 4 concurrent builds
    • 5 custom domains
    • SSO with GitHub and GitLab
    • 250 redirects
    • Pageview analytics (90 days)
    • +10 more
  • Pro$250/month
    • 6 concurrent builds
    • 15 custom domains
    • SSO with Google
    • 500 redirects
    • Pageview analytics (90 days)
    • +10 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • SAML SSO
    • Dedicated builders
    • Advanced audit tracking
    • Support SLA
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Hugo✓
Read the Docs✓
macOS
Hugo✓
Read the Docs✗
Windows
Hugo✓
Read the Docs✗
Linux
Hugo✓
Read the Docs✗
CLI
Hugo✓
Read the Docs✗
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Hugo✓
Read the Docs✓
Self-hosted
Hugo✓
Read the Docs✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Hugo

6 total
  • PostCSS
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Dart Sass
  • Chroma
  • esbuild
  • LibSass
Independently observed

Read the Docs

7 total
  • GitHub
  • GitLab
  • Bitbucket
  • Google
  • Sphinx
  • MkDocs
  • Docusaurus
Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.